Sothebys: Books, Manuscripts & Objects from Three Important Collections, L26401, London

Auction Details

Auction Report
Auction Date
April 17, 2026 - April 17, 2026
Page Size: 99 items in 4 pages
Auction Lot Books
Lot Number Author Name Book Title Place Printed Year Published Estimate Actual Price
1 A.D.

Manuscript of Le Piquet, ou Essai sur les Principes Generaux de ce Jeu.

Paris 1772 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 2,560.00
2 (i) L. D[utens].

Lettres sur un automate, qui joue aux echecs.

1772 GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 GBP 16,640.00
3 Francesco Barozzi

Il nobilissimo et antiquissimo giuoco pythagoreo nominato Rythmomachia cioe battaglia de consonantie de numeri.

Venice 1572 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 4,096.00
4 Filippo Beroaldo

Ein hupsche subtyliche declamation von dryen bruedern, der erst ist ein drunckner boss, der anden ein hurer, der drytt ein spyler.

Strasbourg 1513 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,328.00
5 Claude de Boissiere

Nobilissimus et antiquissimus ludus Pythagoreus (qui Rythmomachia nominatur) in utilitatem & relaxationem studiosorum comparatus.

Paris 1556 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,328.00
6 Sebastian Brant

Varia carmina.

Basel 1 May 1498 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 6,400.00
7 Ibn Butlan

Schachtafelen der Gesuntheyt. I Erstlich durch bewarung der sechs neben naturlichen Ding. …

Strassburg 1533 GBP 6,000.00 - 8,000.00 Not Sold
8 Ivan Butrimov

О шахматной игрѣ [O shakhmatnoy igrye].

St. Petersburg 1821 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 4,096.00
9 Castiglione

Il cortegiano del conte Baldessar Castiglione. Nuovamente stampato, et con somma diligentia revisto con la sua tavola di nuovo aggiunta.

Venice 1546 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 2,304.00
10 Jacobus de Cessolis

De ludo scachorum... Schachzabel... das Buch menschlicher sitten vnnd der Ampt der Edlen.

Strassburg 1 September 1483 GBP 50,000.00 - 70,000.00 GBP 96,000.00
11 Jacobus de Cessolis

Libro di Givocho di scacchi intitolato de costumi deglhuomini & degli offitii de nobili.

Florence 1 March 1493 GBP 50,000.00 - 70,000.00 GBP 76,800.00
12 Jacobus de Cessolis

Incipit libellus de ludo scachorum et de dictus factisque nobilius virorus philosophorum et antiquorum prologus libelli.

Toulouse c.1494 GBP 15,000.00 - 20,000.00 GBP 19,200.00
13 Jacobus de Cessolis

Tractatus de scachis mistice interpretatus de moribus per singulos hominu status.

Vienna 1505 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 12,160.00
14 Jacobus de Cessolis

Opera nuova nella quale se insegna il vero regimento delli huomini & delle donne di qualunque grado, stato, e condition esser si voglia... Costume delli huomini, & ufficcii delli nobeli, nuovamente Stampata.

Venice 1534 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 3,840.00
15 Jacobus de Cessolis

Dechado de la vida humana, moralmente sacado del juego del axedrez.

Valladolid 8 April 1549 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 25,600.00
16 Pedro de Cobarrubias

Remedio de jugadores.

Salamanca 1543 GBP 2,400.00 - 3,600.00 GBP 4,864.00
17 Stephanus Costa

De ludo.

Pavia 20 August 1489 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 7,680.00
18 [Charles Cotton]

The compleat gamester.

London 1674 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 4,096.00
19 Carlo Cozio

Autograph working manuscript entitled "Nuova Idea per lo Il Giuoco degli Scacchi",

Originale 1747 GBP 4,000.00 - 6,000.00 GBP 8,960.00
20 Artemidorus Daldianus

Ἀρτεμιδαώρου Ὀνειροκριτικῶν βιβλία πέντε, Περὶ ἐνυπνίων συνέσιου ὡς λέγουσιν [Oneirokritikon biblia pente - De somnniorum interpretatione, Libri Quinq[ue]. De insomniis, quod Synesii cuiusdam nomine circumfertur].

Venice August 1518 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 1,152.00
21 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giocare a scachi: & de belitissimi partiti revisti & recorrecti con summa diligentia emendati da molti famosissimi giocatori. In lingua spagnola & italiana. Novamente stampato.

Rome 21 November 1524 GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 GBP 24,320.00
22 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giocare a scachi.

Rome undated GBP 8,000.00 - 12,000.00 GBP 8,960.00
23 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giochare a scachi, et de belissimi partiti, revisti & recoretti, & con summa diligentia da molti famosissimi giocatori emendati. In lingua spagnola, & taliana, novamente stampato.

Italy, perhaps Rome, after 1524 GBP 10,000.00 - 15,000.00 GBP 11,520.00
24 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

Libro da imparare giocare a scachi.

Rome c.1535 GBP 3,000.00 - 5,000.00 GBP 5,760.00
25 Pedro Damiano da Odemira

(i) Pedro Damiano da Odemira. Le plaisant jeu des eschecz renouvelle.

Paris 1560 GBP 2,000.00 - 3,000.00 GBP 6,144.00
  • Sotheby's Book Week
    2 June - 9 July
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Smith, Adam. The Wealth of Nations, on its 250th anniversary. $180,000 to $250,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Fontana, Lucio. Concetto Spaziale. 1967. Leporello en papier doré. Bel exemplaire signé. €4,000 to $€,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Fitzgerald, F. Scott. "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past”. $150,000 to $200,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 25: Washington, George (as First President). Washington decries “an ostentatious imitation, or mimickry of Royalty” in his Presidency. $250,000 to $500,000.
    Sotheby’s, June 17: Lope de Vega. Rare manuscrit autographe signé de la préface dédicatoire de "El Cardenal de Belen" (le cardinal de Bethléem), pièce composée en 1610. €40,000 to €60,000.
  • June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Medical Incunabula: Petit (Jean)publisher & Kerver (Thielman)printer. Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum, sm. 8vo, Paris [1498]
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Hugo (Victor) [Wraxall (Lascelles)]. Les Miserable, 3 vols., 8vo, L. (Hurst & Blackett) 1862, First Authorized English Translation (copyright).
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Shelley (Mary Wollstonecraft). Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus, 8vo, 2 vols. in one, L. (G. & W.B. Whittaker, Ave-Maria-Lane) 1823.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Cuisine: Anon. Cookery, Pastry, and Sweet Meats in three Books, Alphabetically Digested, 8vo 1710.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Lambert (Aylmer Bourke). A Description of the Genus Pinus, with Directions Relative to the Cultivation…, 2 vols. Sm. folio L. (Messrs. Weddell) 1832.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Botany: Curtis (William). Flora Londinensis: or Plates and Descriptions of such Plants as Grow Wild in the Environs of London, 2 vols. folio, London (B. White) 1777 – 1798.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Le Moire (J.M.) Maple Leaves, Canadian History and Quebec Scenery (Third Series) 8vo Quebec (Hunter, Rose & Co.) 1865. First Edn.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: The Earliest Extant Printed House Contents Sale Catalogue in Ireland: Baillie, Auctioneer, Abby Street. A Catalogue of the Goods and Stock of the late Edward Wingfield…
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: William III King of England. Autograph Letter Signed ("William R") to an unnamed correspondent [possibly Charles-Henri de Lorraine] discussing his strategy against the French forces during the siege of Namur.
    June 23rd, 24th & 25th 2026
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: [Austen (Jane) (1785-1817]. Pride and Prejudice, 3 vols. sm. 8vo, L. (T. Egerton) 1813.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Heaney (Seamus). Ugolino, sm. folio D. (Dolmen) 1979, Limited Edn. No. 78/125 Copies, Signed by Seamus Heaney, Louis le Brocquy, Liam Miller and Andrew Carpenter.
    Fonsie Mealy’s, June 23-25: Voltaire (F.M. Avouet de). Petits Ouvrages, attribues a M. de Voltaire, sm. folio manuscript, dated 1776, containing 9 works.
  • Bonhams, June 14-23: Franklin D. Roosevelt Presentation Gold Pocket Watch. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Presentation Copy of the First Issue of the Lincoln Douglas Debates Signed by Abraham Lincoln in Pencil to a Sangamon County Illinois Republican. Estimate: $150,000 - 250,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A Senate Resolution Signed in the Tense Days After the Union's Humiliating Defeat at the First Battle of Bull Run. Estimate: $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Seven Passages to a Flight, an Artists Book with a Story Quilt by Faith Ringgold, the Publisher's Own Copy. Estimate: $80,000 - 120,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: A New Charter for Virginia, A Response to the First Armed Rebellion in the American Colonies. Estimate: $15,000 - 25,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Earliest obtainable printing of the Bill of Rights. Estimate: $8,000 - 12,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Edward Curtis Orotone. Estimate: $7,000 - 9,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Owned by Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Butter or Dessert Plate from FDR's State Dinner Service. Estimate: $3,000 - 5,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: An Early Large-Format Plan of the City of Washington. Estimate: $1,500 - 2,500
    Bonhams, June 14-23: Containing the First Map to Name the Hudson River. Estimate: $20,000 - 30,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: America's First Major Novelist, a Complete Chapter in Autograph Manuscript by James Fenimore Cooper. Estimate: $15,000 - 20,000
    Bonhams, June 14-23: The Only Full-Length Book by Jefferson, with the Justly Famous Map. Estimate: $12,000 - 18,000
  • June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: Houdini's biography, boldly signed. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A volume from Abraham Lincoln's library, signed just before heading to Washington for his inauguration. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very early Confederate recruiting manual belonging to the chief commissary in Lee's Army. $600 to $800.
    Doyle, June 25: Rare hand-colored lithographs of the life of Napoleon. $20,000 to $30,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The "Holster Atlas" of the American Revolution. $5,000 to $8,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Jewish ceremonies in fine hand-colored engravings. $7,000 to $10,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A very rare work on Turkish military costume. $1,000 to $1,500.
    June 25, 2026
    Doyle, June 25: The most important illustrated work on the Mexican-American War. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: The finest illustrated book on Afghanistan. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Doyle, June 25: Henry Justice Ford St. George rescues the Princess from the horrible Dragon. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Doyle, June 25: A rare work of Prussian Army uniforms under Frederick William II, with exquisite hand-colored engravings. $800 to $1,200.
    Doyle, June 25: Lenny Bruce typed letter signed to a Village bohemian during his obscenity trials, with a manuscript note and drawing. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: Schiff's scarce Shanghai Sketchbook. $300 to $500.
    Doyle, June 25: The first accurate published representation of the American flag. $2,000 to $4,000.
  • Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 123. Celebrate 250 Years of Independence with Original Stars and Stripes (1790) Est. $1,400 - $1,700
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 20. Keulen's Spectacular Chart of the World Featuring California as an Island (1728) Est. $12,000 - $15,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 42. Schedel's Ancient World Map with Fantastic Humanoid Creatures (1493) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 591. Matching Set of 3 Stunning Globe Gores of Eastern Asia from Coronelli's 3.5 Foot Globe (1688) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 9. Speed's Popular World Map with Allegorical Representations of the Elements (1651) Est. $14,000 - $17,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 168. First Separate Map of Kansas & Nebraska Territories (1854) Est. $5,500 - $7,000
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 43. Only Macrobius Map with Britain Attached to Europe (1515) Est. $800 - $950
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 250. Rare Map of Boston and One of the Earliest Maps of the Revolutionary War (1775) Est. $2,000 - $2,300
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 79. Schenk's Uncommon Map Featuring Two Figurative Title Cartouches (1696) Est. $1,200 - $1,500
    Old World Auctions (June 17): Lot 681. Hand-Colored Image of the Annunciation to the Shepherds (1502) Est. $800 - $950